Fouling of Plate-and-Frame Heat Exchangers and cleaning strategies

Fouling of Plate-and-Frame Heat Exchangers (PHEs) is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by plate design, flow rates, and surface conditions. The understanding of basic fouling mechanisms is expected to guide the development of effective mitigation techniques, which are categorized as on-line and off-line techniques. It is shown through some case studies that properly designed PHEs are less prone to fouling than shell-and-tube heat exchangers (STHEs). The literature on fouling in PHEs having complex flow passages is somewhat limited; however, a reasonable progress has been made in understanding the crystallization and particulate deposition processes in PHEs. Both on-line and off-line cleaning methods are discussed along with probabilistic off-line cleaning schedule.